The present invention relates to a myocardial revascularization device and method for making channels in the inside of the heart ventricle to perfuse the myocardium.
Within this application several publications are references by arabic numerals within parentheses. Full citations for these and other references may be found at the end of the specification immediately preceding the claims. The disclosures of all of these publications in their entireties are hereby incorporated by reference into this application in order to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains.
It is well known that coronary artery disease is a pervasive disease afflicting many people in this country. Many of these people are treatable by coronary artery bypass surgery. However, alternative methods of myocardial revascularization are required for patients with coronary artery disease not amenable to coronary artery bypass. Investigators have used the CO.sub.2 laser in arrested hearts to create transmural channels from the epicardial surface. The channels increase cardiac perfusion by shunting blood from the ventricle to myocardial sinusoids, and can endothelialize and remain patent indefinitely. In this approach, the energy is delivered from outside the ventricle, and the channels formed by the laser energy penetrate the full thickness through the ventricular wall.